I need class ideas

[JenniferL]

I'm teaching at a new school this year. Its a private school for kids with learning disabilities.  I've been assigned two sections of an elective class called "Social Studies Lab".  It was explained to me that this is a project oriented class and shouldn't have much homework. There's no set curriculum, just "social studies". The last teacher who taught it has left me no notes or outlines to follow.

 

I know I can come up with great projects once I meet the students and see what they are interested in, but I need something to start with.  The classes are mixed sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Any suggestions?

[Calyn Jessand]

What does your school consider 'social studies'?  Are you going to be studying different parts of the country and that sort of social studies or history type social studies?

[Zardi]

My high school world geography teacher did a year-long project where we all picked a country, and every month or so we researched a certain aspect of that country and turned in a report on it. The report didn't have to be in the traditional written format, as long as we got the information across effectively. At first he had us research generic things, such as the country's government, its geographical features, language, major imports and exports, etc. The final project was to pretend we were getting a job in that country (we chose what the job was), and figure out what we'd need to know about the country before starting the job, what sorts of papers we'd need to get, etc.

 

Maybe you could adapt a project like that for these younger kids? They could do the research during class time on selected days, assuming the school has a decent library, since they aren't supposed to get much homework.

 

What sorts of learning disabilities do they have? Do you think structured debates would be out of the question?

[Illiara]

We went around the world with everything.  We talked about specific countries and some of the important points about them.  We didn't go into detail, but we spent some time on others (i.e. Germany and Russia).  We mostly got projects where our teacher gave us all of the information, and we had to turn it into an interesting poster or something artsy like that.  It was a lot of fun seeing what you could come up with and what other groups could come up with.

[JenniferL]

Social studies at this school is World History, US History and Georgia Studies. Each grade has its own topic.

 

I've thought about doing debates, or socratic seminars, but there is TONS of reading to get ready for those and its not the kind of text I want to give kids with reading issues the first week of school. Every section of this class has at least one kid who's reading skills aren't that hot, so I want to hold off on heavy reading until they trust me.  We do have software packages like Dragon Naturally Speaking that will "read" to them though, so heavy research projects aren't totally out of the question.

 

I've been thinking about a folktale project. I did folktales with my humanities class last year and it went pretty well. I like that idea since so many of the folktales are written as children's stories and are way below a sixth grade reading level.

[U4ea]

ok, let's see... I know you said it's a private school, but let's just see what the GPS considers topics for 6-7-8 Social Studies...

 

6

looks like a lot of government stuff (European, Oceania, Australia, Latin America), economics, population sizes and land mass effects on it, cultural characteristics of Europe.

 

7

Middle East, Africa, Asia, (government and economics here, too)

 

8

Georgia history, government, etc.

 

ok, so, I see a lot of economics involved, so I think I'd start with general economics (supply, demand, trade, etc). You can set up a class economy to back up their behavior if that's within your school's behavior plan. I'm pretty sure the school has a behavior plan, considering the types of disabilities we're talking about.

 

After that, perhaps let them make some interactive maps? let them trace them from overheads and line the walls, the halls, whatever, with them. Have them label countries and maybe do a little break out on each one that discusses the economic structure, government structure, etc...

 

How mixed are we talking? Are they mixed by "disability" or do you actually have classes by grade level?

[Kivam]

Along the lines of economics, a stock-picking game is always a big hit.

[JenniferL]

We do have a school wide behavior program, which is VERY cool. The kids get "paid" to do things like complete homework, come to school on time, dress appropriately, etc. Then they cash it in on Fridays for a reward, like a trip to the bowling alley. If they haven't finished, or are short on funds because they acted up in class, then they stay on campus until they make up the work. If they finish it in the morning, there's an on campus reward they can join.  This works INCREDIBLY well.

 

Anyways, they are mixed by grade. I love the idea of an economics project, but I hate to start with that. I ran a school store with my fifth graders before and it went pretty well. I just need time to figure out how to set it up here.

 

I'm thinking about doing a folktale project. We could read folktales from different cultures and then write and illustrate our own. Or they could do an oral performance if their writing isn't so hot. Plenty of options.

[Yelenia]

I can remember doing a group project and cooking a 'traditional' food item (was was edible at room temp) from the country I was assigned.

 

I stole an old family recipie from one of my mom's Japanese coworkers for Chicken Teriaki. (and got to play/cook with sake, but my parents wouldn't let me partake of the wine :( )

 

Granted, this was 9th grade - but the logic follows: kids like food, can you incorporate it?

 

But again, this is probably not the best 'to start out' project  :-\

[Loreina]

I think the folk tales are a great idea for a starting project, to give you time to assess their strengths and weaknesses, and more importantly, their learning styles. You could pick a few that exist in several different cultures in slightly different forms, like Cinderella. They are familiar with the core story which frees you up to discuss the key differences and lessens the reading requirement initially.

 

Since it is project oriented, I'd let the student pick the mode of expression, but I would retain control of the topic, to keep my sanity. Private schools often don't have Individual Education Plans, but you can construct your own based on the curriculum and the child's abilities. Accept that you will not be able to cover everything in the text, but I would use a text as a guide. If the school doesn't have one, borrow one or ask a publisher for a 'review' courtesy copy.

 

If you don't have a craft basket, you need to start one. Ask people to give you donations, hit the remnants shelf at Wally World, etc. Ask the kids to bring stuff from home. Some kids like to make dolls/puppets etc. or do bas-relief art, the options are as varied as the kids. Some like to draw, others like to sing or dance. Video is excellent for presenting some of this material since it can appeal to both auditory and visual learners. A skit may work well with a mixed group of learners too.

 

A reading program is good, but if the child is a very visually oriented learner, he/she may not be helped much by such a program. It literally goes in one ear and out the other. Trust me, I know whereof I speak. Don't give me verbal directions for anything! *g* Draw me a map! The map thing Lor suggested is great; even if they don't draw well, they can label, or tape pictures on, or something.

 

My M.Ed is in curriculum design for LD students. PM me anytime you have a question. But Social Studies is one of the best classes to do with these kids, because interest is high once they find out they don't have to read and outline chapters (ugh).  :) 

[Dwynwen]

My sixth grade teacher did the coolest thing for a history unit.  We studied the musical "Evita".  This consisted of not only learning the songs, but studying the history and culture of South America, particularly Argentina.  We learned about the historical figures featured in the musical (Juan Peron, Eva Peron, Che Guevara, etc.), and we used our new knowledge of the historical context to help us analyze the lyrics to the musical.  As a reward, after our test on the unit, we all went to see "Evita" as a class.  I still have all the lyrics memorized, and I'll never forget that experience.

[Mendorah]

I think a folk tale project is fantastic!  And you know, you could still incorporate history and culture into those folktales.  Especially since folktales have Lot to do With the culture of the time.  And you could even work in some economics in there too.  

 

You know, you could even do weeks totally devoted to a particular culture that produced a folktale.  So while they're learning the folktale, they're also learning about everything Around the folktale.  VBS does this often with little rooms that explain how things are during bible times.  Of course, VBS is dumbed down to an elementary grade level and your kids may not need to be that low of a level, but it's something that came to mind.  I also took a class similar in College on Chaucer.  We had two instructors.  One was history and the other was Literature.  We read for homework and then in class we learned about everything that happened Around the stories, including religion, feasts, marraige, etc.  It was a really cool class and it put things in a really cool perspective.

[U4ea]

Oh and if you don't already have this...

 

http://www.unitedstreaming.com/

 

I LOVE THIS PLACE! It has a ton of videos, broken down by subject and grade level, on any topic you can imagine. If it's been on educational TV, you'll find it here. Wander through and see what kinds of stuff you can find on what your goals are. I just did a search for "folk tales" and found 10 videos that you can supplement your stuff with. Most of the videos look like foreign topics, too (four volumes of European folk tales, for example). They're all on a K-2 level, but it would probably be good to play with them, even on your level.

 

*grins* and I love the folk tale idea. You can get them into it by doing an example as a class, then letting them do their own. That way, even if they're not Shakespeare, you're still giving them a platform for success...

 

 

[JenniferL]

Lori...Cinderella was EXACTLY what I was thinking of! And I'm definitely going to bother you this year. I've seen the psych files on some of these kids. Interesting doesn't even begin to cut it.

 

When I did my folktale project last spring, we did African trickster tales and I just about cleaned out the public library of everything they had. So I know I know there's tons of picture books and videos out there we can use for reference.

[JenniferL]

Just as an update, I ended up with THREE kids signing up for "International Studies", which is basically just a conglomeration of all the fun social studies projects I've done in the past, but don't fit the curriculumn I'm teaching this year.  So I teach that two afternoons a week, then assist a carpentry class the other two afternoons. Yes, I'm teaching woodshop. I'm as terrified as you are.

 

Actually, its not that bad. I don't have to plan for it, since I'm just assisting and it's really gratifying to be with some of those kids while they learn the basics of hammering and drilling. I'm pretty sure this is the first time in their lives they've ever been allowed to handle something even slightly dangerous. I'm just a second pair of eyes helping them pull nails and problem solve, since that's not a strength for these kids.

 

I think next semester I'll pitch an engineering elective. I totally forgot that I used to teach this, as well as game design at a science museum a few years ago. All the stuff I did with those kids was wacky problem solving things like "Open the door from 30 feet away using only straws, dry spaghetti noodles, yarn and a coat hanger".  I think that might be more popular.

 

I also have to teach a club that meets one Friday a month. I chose "role playing games" for mine, since all the other good ideas were taken. We did club sign ups today and apparently mine is tied with "Japanese culture" for the most popular. I walked into the first class, and pulled out my dice and a kid in the front row started jumping around yelling "I'm in your club! I'll bring my minitures! I'm in this club!"

 

There's going to be alot of disappointed kids on Monday, because I said my club was limited to just seven people. Hopefully they all picked a second choice they can be happy with.

[Calyn Jessand]

Well, if your International Studies class is really fun and awesome, word will spread! 

 

Sounds like lots of fun stuff is going on.  We don't have clubs or anything at my school though I think I would enjoy doing that sort of thing with my kids, even if they are a bit younger.

 

The engineering stuff sounds really fun though!  I need to do some stuff like that with my kids, too.  I keep thinking they need problem solving and team building and stuff but there isn't enough time in the day!

[JenniferL]

I build problem solving and team building experiences into the curriculum. For example, my sixth grade World History class is doing Sumer right now. We've done our reading notes on the subject, so they have background knowledge. Next week, we're going to do an experiantial exercise where they play the role of Sumerians dealing with the periodic flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Hopefully, they'll connect the reading with the exercise and figure out they need to create a flood control system and a government to maintain it.  I'll lead them step by step through it though.  They are just VERY concrete thinkers, more so than what I'm used to.

 

I get a lot of my lesson ideas from the History Alive! series by TCI. I HIGHLY recommend it, and I wish we had it at this school.

[Calyn Jessand]

I try to when I can but unfortunately, as a resource teacher, I get very little time with the kids and I have to cover basically everything.  It's tough.  I try to incorporate it with the small group work but since mostly what I teach is basic reading skills, it's sometimes difficult.  I do like to make it as interactive as possible, though, because my kids are also special needs kids so they do best with things that are concrete.  We read a book with a chapter about kids flying kites and none of them had ever flown a kite before!  So I got some cheap dollar kites at the drugstore and we all went out to fly kites.  It was the end of the year and it was so nice out.  They really got into it and most of the classes weren't doing real work anymore anyway.  My kids are sooo lacking in background knowledge.

 

I am not familiar with History Alive!  Is it a curriculum program?  We don't have a history curriculum.  I actually am not responsible for much by way of history.  I am mostly basic reading/writing/math skills but the 5th graders do some history and I am always trying to modify stuff for them to make it more hands on since their teacher is very good but WAY too difficult for some of them.